American IndyCar Series A Record of the American IndyCar Series United States Speedway Series 1988 - 2012 Rob Semmeling American IndyCar Series Page 2 1988 AIS Season ■ Officially the Valvoline Machinists Union American IndyCar Series ■ The inaugural season had eight rounds ■ Please note dates are given as day-month-year throughout this file 01-05-1988 Willow Springs Raceway - Rosamond, California / AIS inaugural race 2.54-mile road course / support event: WSMA motorcycles Round 1 Pole position: Buddy Lazier 1.13,332 = 124.693 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier (March-Chevrolet) 40 laps 115 mph ■ 02 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 03 Bill Scott (March-Chevrolet) ■ 04 Bob Schader (Lola-Chevrolet) ■ 05 John Eskuri ■ 06 Joe Simmons ■ 07 Myron Rust ■ 08 John Raecker ■ 09 Bill Tempero ■ 10 Pepe Romero ■ 11 Jeff Nish ■ 12 John Dixon ■ 13 Tom Frantz 19-06-1988 Illinois Grand Prix - St. Louis International Raceway - East St. Louis, Illinois 2.2-mile road course / attendance: 6000 Round 2 Qualifying: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 1.20,470 = 98.422 mph ■ 02 Bill Tempero 95.2 mph ■ 03 Bob Lazier 92.33 mph ■ 04 Robby Unser Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier (March-Chevrolet) 54 laps or 118.8 miles in 1:19.48 = 89.31 mph ■ 02 Bill Tempero (Lola-Chevrolet) ■ 03 Bill Scott (March-Chevrolet) ■ 04 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 05 Dean Vetrock ■ 06 Jeff Nish ■ 07 Myron Rust ■ 08 Bob Lazier ■ 09 Pepe Romero ■ 10 Robby Unser DNF ■ 11 John Eskuri ■ 12 Jim Buick American IndyCar Series Page 3 03-07-1988 AMG Eurospeed Grand Prix of Colorado - Mountain View Motorsports Park - Mead, Colorado 1.0-mile road course Round 3 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.35,550 = 101.265 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 100 laps 70.01 mph ■ 02 Buddy Lazier (March-Chevrolet) +4.5s ■ 03 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 04 Jeff Nish (March-Chevrolet) 23-07-1988 Shangri-La Speedway (Tioga Motorsports Park) - Owego, New York ½-mile paved oval / reportedly 8 starters Round 4 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.15,370 = 117.111 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier (March-Chevrolet) 100 or 125 laps ■ 02 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 03 Bill Tempero (Lola-Chevrolet) ■ 04 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 03-09-1988 Race City Speedway - Calgary, Alberta, Canada ½-mile paved oval Round 5 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.15,360 = 117.187 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier (March-Chevrolet) 125 laps ■ 02 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 03 Bill Tempero (Lola-Chevrolet) ■ 04 Bill Scott (March-Chevrolet) 04-09-1988 Race City Speedway - Calgary, Alberta, Canada ½-mile paved oval Round 6 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.15,270 = 117.878 mph Race: ■ 01 Bill Tempero (Lola-Chevrolet) 125 laps ■ 02 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) ■ 03 Kevin Whitesides (March-Chevrolet) ■ 04 John Eskuri (March-Chevrolet) American IndyCar Series Page 4 09-10-1988 Bud Light 100 - Willow Springs Raceway - Rosamond, California 2.54-mile road course Rounds 7-8 Round 7 qualifying: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier (March) 1.14,59 = 122.590 mph ■ 02 Robby Unser (Lola) 118.390 mph ■ 03 Kevin Whitesides (March) 118.172 mph ■ 04 Bill Tempero (Lola) 118.141 mph ■ 05 Jeff Nish (March) 114.431 mph ■ 06 Bob Tankersley (Lola) 109.302 mph ■ 07 Pepe Romero (March) 102.987 mph ■ 08 Joe Simmons (Lola) 101.203 mph ■ 09 Victor Gonzales (March) no time ■ 10 Tom Simpson (March) no time ■ 11 John Eskuri (March) no time ■ 12 Mike Leary (March) no time Round 7 race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 24 laps in 31.40 = 113.68 mph ■ 02 Robby Unser +3.04s ■ 03 Bill Tempero 24 laps ■ 04 Jeff Nish 22 laps out of fuel ■ 05 Pepe Romero 22 laps out of fuel ■ 06 Kevin Whitesides 21 laps out of fuel ■ 07 Tom Simpson 21 laps ■ 08 Joe Simmons 21 laps ■ 09 John Eskuri 7 laps oil leak ■ 10 Mike Leary 6 laps ■ 11 Bob Tankersley 4 laps engine ■ 12 Victor Gonzales 1 lap ignition Round 8 qualifying: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 1.14,210 = 123.218 mph ■ 02 Robby Unser ■ 03 Bill Tempero ■ 04 Kevin Whitesides ■ 05 Jeff Nish ■ 06 unknown ■ 07 Tom Simpson ■ 08 Joe Simmons ■ 09 Pepe Romero ■ 10 unknown ■ 11 John Eskuri ■ 12 Mike Leary American IndyCar Series Page 5 Round 8 race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 24 laps in 33.06 = 108.74 mph ■ 02 Robby Unser 24 laps ■ 03 Bill Tempero 23 laps ■ 04 Kevin Whitesides 23 laps out of fuel ■ 05 Joe Simmons 22 laps ■ 06 Jeff Nish 21 laps clutch ■ 07 Tom Simpson 17 laps off course ■ 08 Pepe Romero 12 laps oil leak ■ 09 Mike Leary 7 laps oil ■ 10 John Eskuri laps unknown fuel pump Final championship standings: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 152 - won 6 of 8 races this year ■ 02 Kevin Whitesides 112 ■ 03 Bill Tempero 110 ■ 04 Robby Unser 97 ■ 05 John Eskuri 73 ■ 06 Jeff Nish 66 ■ 07 Bill Scott 62 ■ 08 Pepe Romero 45 ■ 09 Mike Leary 29 ■ 10 Dean Vetrock 20 ■ 11 Myron Rust 18 ■ 11 Tom Simpson 18 ■ 13 Bob Schader 16 ■ 13 John Raecker 16 ■ 13 Bob Lazier 16 ■ 16 Victor Gonzalez 11 ■ 17 Jim Buick 10 ■ 17 Tim Conolly 10 ■ 19 George Raterink 7 ■ 20 Bob Tankersley 5 ■ 21 James King 3 ■ 22 Joe Simmons 2 Rookie of the Year: Kevin Whitesides American IndyCar Series Page 6 1989 AIS Season ■ Officially the Machinists Union American IndyCar Series ■ The season had twin-races at eight meetings for a total of sixteen rounds 21-05-1989 Hawkeye Downs Speedway - Cedar Rapids, Iowa ½-mile paved oval / attendance: circa 2000 Rounds 1-2 Round 1 qualifying: ■ 01 Bill Tempero 0.17,33 = 103.866 mph ■ 02 Robby Unser 0.17,70 ■ 03 Bill Scott 0.17,85 ■ 04 Kenji Momota 0.18,10 Round 1 race: ■ 01 Robby Unser 100 laps ■ 02 Bill Scott ■ 03 Pepe Romero ■ 04 Richard Griffin ■ 05 Bob Tankersley ■ 06 Richard DeLorto ■ 07 Greg Gordon ■ 08 Kenji Momota ■ 09 Danny Thiel ■ 10 Steve Ternoey ■ 11 Bill Tempero ■ 12 Bill Hansen Round 2 qualifying: ■ 01 Bill Tempero 0.17,54 = 102.623 mph ■ 02 Bill Scott 0.17,55 ■ 03 Robby Unser 0.17,80 ■ 04 Kenji Momota 0.17,81 Round 2 race: ■ 01 Robby Unser 100 laps ■ 02 Bill Scott ■ 03 Kenji Momota ■ 04 Richard DeLorto ■ 05 Richard Griffin ■ 06 Bob Tankersley ■ 07 Steve Ternoey ■ 08 Bill Hansen ■ 09 Pepe Romero ■ 10 Greg Gordon ■ 11 Danny Thiel ■ 12 Bill Tempero American IndyCar Series Page 7 03-06-1989 I-70 Speedway - Odessa, Missouri ½-mile paved oval Round 3 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.15,927 = 113.016 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 100 laps 04-06-1989 I-70 Speedway - Odessa, Missouri ½-mile paved oval Round 4 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.15,852 = 113.550 mph / new track record Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 64 laps ■ 02 Buddy Lazier Results for rounds 3 and 4 perhaps vice versa ? 10-06-1989 Memphis Motorsports Park - Memphis, Tennessee 1.77-mile road course Round 5 Pole position: Bill Tempero 1.02,511 = 101.934 mph / new track record Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 35 laps 11-06-1989 Memphis Motorsports Park - Memphis, Tennessee 1.77-mile road course Round 6 Pole position: Buddy Lazier 1.00,204 = 105.840 mph / new track record Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 35 laps American IndyCar Series Page 8 04-07-1989 Colorado National Speedway - Erie, Colorado ½-mile paved oval Round 7 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.14,841 = 121.286 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 100 laps 116.2 mph ■ 02 Bill Tempero +2s 04-07-1989 Colorado National Speedway - Erie, Colorado ½-mile paved oval Round 8 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.14,823 = 121.433 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 100 laps 19-08-1989 Race City Speedway - Calgary, Alberta, Canada ½-mile paved oval Round 9 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.14,900 = 120.805 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser 125 laps 20-08-1989 Race City Speedway - Calgary, Alberta, Canada ½-mile paved oval Round 10 Pole position: Greg Gordon 0.14,770 = 121.869 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 125 laps 02-09-1989 Colorado National Speedway - Erie, Colorado ½-mile paved oval Round 11 Pole position: Robby Unser 0.14,732 = 122.183 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser 125 laps American IndyCar Series Page 9 03-09-1989 Colorado National Speedway - Erie, Colorado ½-mile paved oval Round 12 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.14,557 = 123.651 mph / new track record Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser 125 laps 29-09-1989 Shangri-La Speedway (Tioga Motorsports Park) - Owego, New York ½-mile paved oval Round 13 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.16,340 = 110.159 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 100 laps ■ 02 Richard Griffin 30-09-1989 Shangri-La Speedway (Tioga Motorsports Park) - Owego, New York ½-mile paved oval Round 14 Pole position: Bill Tempero 0.16,060 = 112.078 mph Race: ■ 01 Richard Griffin 100 laps ■ DNF Robby Unser 86 laps wheel loose Pole positions for rounds 13 and 14 perhaps vice versa ? Date for round 13 perhaps also 30 September ? 29-10-1989 Willow Springs Raceway - Rosamond, California 2.54-mile road course Round 15 Pole position: Bill Tempero 1.14,370 = 122.952 mph Race: ■ 01 Robby Unser (Lola-Chevrolet) 25 laps American IndyCar Series Page 10 29-10-1989 Willow Springs Raceway - Rosamond, California 2.54-mile road course Round 16 Pole position: Bill Tempero 1.13,210 = 124.901 mph Race: ■ 01 Buddy Lazier 25 laps Results for rounds 15 and 16 perhaps vice versa ? Final championship standings: ■ 01 Robby Unser 392 - won 12 of 16 races this season ■ 02 unknown ■ 03 unknown ■ 04 unknown ■ 05 Bill Tempero 185 ■ 06 Bill Hansen 183 ■ 07 Buddy Lazier 173 (...) ■ 16 Kevin Whitesides 41 ■ 18 Johnny Unser 40 Rookie of the Year: Richard Griffin American IndyCar Series Page 11 1990 AIS Season ■ Season had eight rounds but one was rained-out 06-05-1990 Budweiser Grand Prix - Willow Springs Raceway - Rosamond, California 2.54-mile road course Round 1 Pole position: Bill Tempero 1.14,527 = 122.694 mph Race: ■ 01 Bill Tempero 25 laps ■ 02 Johnny Unser ■ 03 Rick Sutherland ■ 04 Greg Gordon Note: Tempero had recorded a 1.12,70